


Run to you

by Desidera



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29272164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Desidera/pseuds/Desidera
Summary: Dark Valentines of Dimensions 2021
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17
Collections: Dark Valentines of Dimensions 2021





	Run to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bobtailsquid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobtailsquid/gifts).



> Thank you, bobtailsquid, for the beautiful prompt! The beginning may be a little more angsty than your request suggested, but I needed a build-up for the melodramatic parts. Writing for you has absolutely pushed me to try even harder than I normally do to create something beautiful. Your writing and your dedication as a writer is so inspiring! It has influenced my choice of words and style, hopefully improving my writing, and I’ll take that experience with me into future stories. I am your humble fan, and I hope you’ll enjoy this little gift. 
> 
> Thank you, Nenya85, for reading through this story for me and helping me see where I missed important character details! I'm so grateful for your help and feedback!
> 
> My soundtrack has been a nonstop loop of Pentatonix’ “Run to you”, hence the title. (Incidentally, the lyrics of Whitney Houston’s “Run to you” fit the story pretty well, too, and I may have indulged in that for some of the romantic scenes as well…)

**Run to you**

  
  


"Are you going to yell at me too? I deserve it. After all  _ I  _ am the one who sent him to the afterlife, the one who pushed him away from you and forced you to pry open the gates of another dimension to wedge your way through. So, yell at me all you like, Kaiba." 

"Fuck you, Yuugi, why are you taking the blame? It was  _ his decision _ to leave."

"It was also his decision to come back with you. He’s here now, and he is staying."

"Do you really believe that?" 

"I do."

"What if the world needs saving again tomorrow? He'll be gone in a heartbeat. Do you think he'll spare us a glance this time?" 

A sigh. "Kaiba." 

He was a wounded animal, a feral creature baring its teeth and jerking back from soothing touches, twisting its body in each and every direction to snap at the unseen enemy. Yuugi, despite being exasperated, ached to reach out to him, to run his thumb over the back of Kaiba’s hand to stop the nervous twitching of his fingers, to place his palm on the narrow expanse between his shoulder blades. But it was not his touch Kaiba needed, it was not his place to provide healing for this hurt. 

It had not come as a surprise to Yuugi. He had seen every ounce of Kaiba’s desperate longing when they had been fighting Aigami. The way pain had dragged his lips into a thin stretched line when he had looked at the puzzle he was trying to complete. And he had seen the bright shimmer of naked fear in Kaiba's eyes over Atem’s shoulder - Atem’s solid, real, living shoulder where Yuugi’s head would rest a moment later, his vision blurred by tears of joy. Yuugi had wondered why it was not the image of Atem’s wide smile and outstretched arms that came to his mind whenever the memory of that first meeting after Atem’s return resurfaced. 

Yuugi had seen it again and again, tiny glimpses of shadows passing over Kaiba’s face whenever Atem would mention his past or his abandoned resting place in the afterlife. He had watched Kaiba eyeing the puzzle Atem would still wear at times, as if it had the power to suddenly suck its bearer into its dark maze without warning. They had had fights over it, Yuugi knew, because Atem would call him in frustration afterward. He knew that Kaiba had no idea how broken Atem would sound at these times. 

_ I can't help missing them, Yuugi. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be here. With you.  _ With Kaiba. It wasn't spoken but Yuugi could hear it loud and clear. 

He also knew that, from a purely rational point of view, Kaiba understood Atem’s need for something that tied him to his past life and his friends in the other dimension. At the same time, Kaiba was barely holding himself together whenever Atem slipped that chain over his neck. 

“This meeting is terminated.” Kaiba leaned back in his office chair, crossing his arms, glaring at him. Yuugi sighed again, closed his laptop and gathered the papers full of hastily scribbled notes they had been discussing for his current project. It had been a bad idea to mention Atem. They needed to fight their own battles, and as much as Yuugi wanted to help, this was something he could not fix. 

“I’ll see myself out then.”

***

In all his time as a nameless spirit in the puzzle and later as a dead pharaoh in the afterlife, Atem would never have dreamed of being angry with his soulmate and partner. However, when he put away his phone with Yuugi's texts and stared out of the mansion's living room window, watching dark rain clouds gather on the grey horizons, he could not help the feeling of annoyance washing over him. Then again, he had been angry the entire morning and afternoon, the tightly coiled knot in his stomach twisting and pulling more with each passing hour of Kaiba refusing to talk to him. 

Their fight last night hadn't been anything out of the ordinary. The usual accusations, their exchange by now a practised back and forth of overused words, forever spinning in circles with no progression and no way out. 

...

_ "You can go back anytime if you miss it so much _ ."

_ "I'm certainly not going to give up the memories I've only just regained." _

_ …  _

_ "You never mean to keep any of your promises, do you? _

_ “You want me to censor every word I say? Just to make sure that nothing will fuel your distrust in my intentions?” _

_... _

__

_ "I refuse to cut a part of who I am out of my heart!" _

_ “Oh, you managed well enough when you cut  _ me _ out of your heart, along with your so-called partner and everyone else here in this world.” _

_ … _

Atem had known what was going to happen in the evening once Kaiba would return. They would both be consumed by anger to the point of exploding. He would not be able to stand Kaiba’s silence so he would throw the hurtful words that were sure to trigger the explosion right into his face. They would be quiet, hushed, even though there was no reason to keep Mokuba in the dark about anything that was going on between them. Mokuba would be in his room, deeply immersed in a game, headphones blocking out the world. But the glance he had given Atem before leaving in the morning with Kaiba had spoken volumes. 

_ You should know better. Remember what my brother did for you.  _

They would utter words under their breath, sharp as daggers, aimed for the heart. Direct attacks, never bypassing the chance to hit where it hurt most. They were both good at this. The point would come, inevitably, when one of them would shove the other into a wall. Venomous words would drain off tongues otherwise occupied, one would swallow the other’s anger in exchange for a bite and a moan. They would end their furious fight in a tangle of limbs, the brushfire of their desire sweeping across the weaponry of their anger and rendering it useless. Scorched earth and bruised souls left behind in the wake of their argument, but the wounds their words had dealt dressed with a caress on a bare thigh or a possessive arm thrown over a naked chest. 

Those bandages would hold for a while, a few weeks, before the cycle would start anew. 

But now Yuugi had interfered, had dragged the hideous monster of their fight into the open, and Atem had no idea what reaction to expect. He appreciated Yuugi wanting to help… but he had a feeling this time his partner would have done better to stand back and let them handle it exactly the way they always did. 

The clouds were thickening, dark masses in various shades of grey curling into each other, pushing and contorting to form towers of quiet rage in the distance. There was a hint of lightning but no thunder. 

Atem settled on the windowsill and watched the rainstorm gathering. Memories came to his mind, unbidden but inexorable, memories of dark blue clouds looming over the Nile to the melodious rhythmic chants of his priests and priestesses, his friends. The way the golden rays of Ra had been framing and bursting through the clouds until their bulk had become overwhelming, bearing down on the light until the last patch had evaporated. The cheers that had erupted with the first drops of rain that brought along the flood season, the assurance of another cycle of fertility and life. The prayers of gratitude sung to the God of storms, his cousin's namesake. How different was this distant storm, promising only darkness and gloom. 

All of a sudden he felt terribly alone. Atem clenched his teeth and exhaled hard through his nose, closing his eyes. He  _ wanted _ to be here, damn it. It should be enough, knowing that he would very likely be allowed to go back to Aaru with Kaiba once their lives here would end - but sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes he felt like his only ties to this world were Yuugi, a constant, a well of support and trust, and Kaiba, a furnace of quick burning anger and slow blazing fervor that had him whirling with its ardent intensity. As long as these primary structures of his fortress could stand he was strong in this world. But who was he without them? What was he to do at the danger of one of them crumbling and breaking away? 

Atem drew his knees to his chest, hugging them to his body, holding himself while he waited for Kaiba to come home. 

***

The clicking sound of the door sliding shut was almost too quiet for Atem to hear. Kaiba would always seek him out during those times they were aching for a fight. It was getting darker outside and the storm clouds had settled over Domino like a snowy mountain range ready to dispatch avalanches and tumbling stones to bury the valley it surrounded. 

Atem waited, watching a crow desperately flapping its wings, fighting the rising winds outside. The mansion remained quiet. Kaiba had vanished without so much as a glance in his direction. 

Getting up from the windowsill, Atem made his way into the kitchen, then the hallway towards Kaiba’s study. He could hear rustling inside, then the silence stretched mercilessly once more. 

Atem pushed the door open. Kaiba was standing with his back to the door, shoulders drawn tightly - a dragon ready to strike. 

“You're refusing to talk to me again?” Atem inquired, quietly. “We both know this isn’t going to lead anywhere.”

A slow movement of Kaiba’s head, not quite a shake, more like a huge animal shrugging off an annoying fly. Atem’s anger was boiling up, pushing words into his throat that he had to swallow down with conscious effort before speaking again. 

“I'm not going to wait around until you decide to finally grace me with some words of disdain, Kaiba. You should know that.”

“You want to talk?” Kaiba drawled, pointedly refusing to turn. “In that case you shouldn't have sent your precious partner to do the talking for you.”

Atem almost gasped in his outrage. “So this is what it’s about? You think I  _ asked  _ Yuugi to talk to you? Because I wouldn’t  _ dare  _ speak to you myself?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time you had him do the dirty work for you.”

This was the moment. This was where Atem would shove Kaiba into the nearest wall. But Kaiba was too far from him, impossibly out of reach, still turned away, and there was no physical outlet for the rage that surged through his every body cell. 

“I can’t believe,” he hissed, trembling, “that you would stoop so low as to pull Yuugi into this.”

Kaiba barked out a laugh. “Believe me, pulling Yuugi into  _ this  _ certainly hadn’t been on my mind until he apparently decided to make it his business. So  _ this  _ is probably something he brought upon himself.”

“This! This, Kaiba!” Atem had to restrain himself from grabbing a chair and hurling it across the room. “This is  _ you _ unable to lay your doubts to rest. This is  _ you  _ forever unable to forgive me for something I needed to do, for being someone I wanted to be.”

Kaiba did not turn. The silence hit Atem like a poisoned dart. He felt himself reeling, the ground pulled from beneath his feet.

“I…” He swallowed. “I’ll be staying at Yuugi’s. Goodbye.” He couldn't bring himself to look at Kaiba’s back for another second, he couldn't even bring himself to utter Kaiba’s name. Instead he turned and walked slowly from the room, his legs moving faster and faster until he had reached the foyer, mindlessly pulling on his boots and dashing through the front door, slamming it shut behind himself. 

***

Atem was running, the rain beating down on him stinging against his skin like tiny needles, each sting a welcome hurt. 

_ He could feel Seto’s hand stroking his hair in the dead of night. One ticklish strand had strayed into his face when it had separated itself from the rest, and Seto’s hand was just a little clumsy, hesitant, like someone would caress a baby too frail yet for anything but a featherlight touch. The long fingers slipped from his head to his face, trailing down his cheek, and he smiled ever so slightly into the circles they were drawing next to the corner of his mouth. Seto’s fingertips moved on to his throat, paused in wonder where his pulse was beating under his skin, then Seto slowly dragged them down over his collarbones. Atem grasped the wandering digits, kissed each one separately, open-mouthed and sleep-drugged and when he had finally opened his eyes he had found the ocean blue of Seto’s gaze stricken. _

Kaiba was in his study, watching through the window as lightning was ramifying in the darkness, listening to the steady patter of rain against the glass.

_ Atem’s bare feet had touched the waters, the Nile washing reverently around his toes, his ankles, his knees. His own clothed legs had vanished in the dark waves and he had taken a step forward, enveloping Atem in his embrace from behind, pressing the sun-warmed body to his. He had stood still, bent over awkwardly, unused to the quiet sounds of another’s breath so close, the rising and falling of Atem’s chest beneath his arms unfamiliar but hypnotic, making him ache for even more closeness while shying away from it at the same time. Atem’s head had slowly dropped back, resting against his shoulder, his eyes closed. There had been moisture on his face, on his cheek and jawline, a splash of water, or the trail of a tear. And Seto had trembled at the thought that Atem was saying goodbye to the sunlight glittering on the river, the herons stalking through the reeds in the muddy banks, the soft ripples of waves lapping at his body, was saying goodbye to everything that was clear and certain in exchange for this awkward and gawky embrace.  _

Atem’s drenched clothes clung to his limbs as he walked, still at a tearing pace, his bangs dripping water into his eyes, his boots sloshing in deep pools that reflected the city lights in the evening darkness. 

_ Seto’s presence filled his throne room, silver gear and blue light encasing his face and shining in his eyes, an armoured knight that would not kneel before king nor god. Atem pushed himself to his feet. An unfamiliar and utterly insane thought took possession of his mind: it was he who wanted to kneel before this man who knew no fear and no boundaries, this man who had refused to let him go but had stormed right into another dimension after him instead. _

Kaiba’s coat was dragging behind him in the mud as he took long strides on the pavement shining with silvery wetness. Tiny rivulets slipping down his forehead and dripping water into his eyes were annoying him as they impeded his vision whenever he looked around, frantically searching the empty street. 

_ The sight of Atem asleep robbed him of his breath. An abandoned book had slipped from Atem’s hand, its pages fanned out where it lay on the floor beneath the couch. Atem was lying on his stomach, his arm was hanging limply over the side. One cheek was pressed into the upholstery, his mouth hanging open slightly to release breathy snoring sounds. Seto bent down, paused, not sure how to go about this. Atem twitched in his sleep, lips closing with a soft hum. Seto slipped his hands underneath his thighs and around his back and lifted him gently off the couch into his arms. Walking slowly with the burden of the other’s sleep-slackened body, Seto was aware that he had never felt more at home in his own home than at this moment.  _

***

“Atem!” 

He swung around at the sound of Kaiba’s voice, making out his silhouette in the dark at the foot of the flight of stairs he'd just jogged up, obscure in the shine of the street lamps lighting the park around them. The rain was pouring down heavily, like a curtain surrounding them, cutting them off from the rest of the world. 

Kaiba had come after him. 

Atem’s heart clenched painfully in his chest. Without thinking he started running down, took two steps at a time, splashing water where his boots hit the stone. Kaiba hesitated for a long moment, then suddenly started forward. They met in the lower third of the stairway, their faces almost level with Atem coming to stand a step higher, just regarding each other silently for a moment. 

Slowly, Atem raised a shaking hand, brushing Kaiba’s wet bangs out of his eyes. 

They lunged at each other. Kaiba's hands framed and cradled his face, his lips frantic as they were travelling over his cheekbones, his jaw, cold and wet on his throat where each panting breath sent a shiver down Atem's spine. He was clinging to Kaiba's shoulders, one arm trapped between them in front of his body, the other seeking purchase on the fabric of Kaiba's slick, wet coat. 

Kaiba's teeth roughly grazed the shell of his ear, then his earlobe, only slightly short of a bite. His voice was harsh and throaty. "I couldn’t let you go. And I  _ hate _ it." Kaiba's hands slipped from Atem's cheeks over his temples into the dripping wet tangle of his hair. Atem moaned quietly as Kaiba pulled him close and pressed their lips together. 

"I can't stand the thought, I can't bear it. I can't even  _ breathe _ ." Kaiba's fingers grasping his hair were nearly painful, water was trailing down their noses, gathering in the corners of their mouths where Atem's tongue lapped it away in between scorching kisses. 

"But most of all," Kaiba whispered gravelly against his lips, "I hate the way I don’t hate you. You left. But I still want you."

Atem grabbed the back of Kaiba's head with both hands and pressed their foreheads together. Raindrops clung to Kaiba's eyelashes and the tip of his nose, his pupils were dilated and dark and he was breathing hard. Atem had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. 

"I love you, too, Seto, Gods, I do. I won't leave you again. You have to believe me."

"I can't. Atem… " 

"Please, Seto, don't push me away. We'll work it out. There’s no use shoving me away, we’re both in too deep. There's no way around this, around  _ us _ ." 

Atem felt Kaiba's entire body weight lean on him and allowed it to drag him down, drag them both down to the ground. They slumped together on the steps, coming to rest against each other, Kaiba nearly boneless in Atem's embrace. The pain was ebbing away with each open-mouthed kiss, seeping away while the rain was seeping in, soaking them to the bones, washing off the ugliness of the fight. Drowning their weary bodies and tired souls in the sheer magnitude of what they were feeling for each other. 

Their cold skin warmed where their bodies were pressed together, then cooled again when the rain finally subsided and left them drenched and shivering. Atem rubbed his cheek against Kaiba’s. “Let’s go home, hm?”

Kaiba nodded and hoisted them both to their feet. 

***

Mokuba found them a few hours later, huddled on the couch and wrapped in blankets. Seto’s head, propped on the armrest, was tilted back and to the side. His arms were wrapped around Atem who seemed to have passed out on top of him, his head resting on Seto’s chest, right over his heart, probably lulled to sleep by Seto’s steady heartbeat. Mokuba could relate, remembering many times when it had been him finding comfort in this way. He stood silently, watching, looking for a lingering sign of the fight, for a hint of what the morning would be like between them. He had learned the hard way that he could not protect his brother from self-inflicted harm, but he knew that, somehow, Atem had found a way to stay his brother’s hand before the wounds would get too deep. Mokuba decided to text Yuugi who he knew had tried to call at least twice this afternoon, probably after failing to reach either Atem or Seto. 

He tiptoed quietly around the couch towards the kitchen when his gaze fell upon the couch table. The Millennium puzzle was lying there, the very item his brother had turned over half of Japan and Egypt for, unattended, like a mere piece of jewelry. Mokuba frowned and was just making up his mind to wake the two of them and tell them to look after their magical items properly when he noticed there was an irregularity. There were two pieces missing at one of the corners. Mokuba furrowed his brow, thinking hard. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he wheeled around to look at the sleeping men on the couch. 

Seto’s eyes were open, regarding him calmly, with a hint of a fond smile in them. He slowly lifted one of his hands from Atem’s back and opened his palm to reveal one of the missing pieces. Mokuba let out a soft snort, but returned Seto’s smile with a beaming one of his own. He didn’t need to ask for the whereabouts of the second puzzle piece. He nodded to his brother and continued his journey to the kitchen.


End file.
